Filipino breakfast gets an upgrade. Chicken fillets are coated with herbed flour before they are fried twice for the ultimate crispness. Rice, cooked the day before with lemongrass stalk and pandan leaves, is stir fried with sauteed garlic and lemongrass.
Cook’s notes
Marinate the chicken
Season and marinate the chicken fillets for a couple of hours before cooking. You want them flavored all the way to the center of the thickest portion of the meat. Pound the chicken fillets to an even thickness. This ensures that the meat cooks evenly. What should the thickness be after pounding. I find that around half an inch is best.Add dried herbs to the flour
Season the flour with which you will coat the pounded chicken fillets before frying. Herbes de Provence, a blend of savory, marjoram, rosemary, thyme and oregano, was used to flavor the flour in this recipe. What dried herb or herbs you may use depends on the seasoning you used for the chicken. They should complement one another.Fry the chicken twice
Double fry the chicken — initially over medium heat and, after that, over high heat. The first frying cooks the meat all the way (you don’t want to eat raw chicken, after all) while the second turns the flour coating into a crisp crust with deep reddish-gold color.Fried rice
For the best fried rice, we cook rice with a stalk of lemongrass and a couple of pandan leaves. After the rice has cooled to room temperature, we transfer it into a covered container without removing the lemongrass and pandan leaves. The rice rests in the fridge overnight. The next day, finely sliced lemongrass and garlic are sauteed before the rice is added. This gives the rice better flavor and aroma.Fried chicken, rice and egg (chicksilog)
Ingredients
Fried chicken
- 8 chicken thigh fillets
- 4 teaspoons lemon pepper seasoning or your preferred chicken seasoning
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon dried herbs
- cooking oil for frying
Garlic lemongrass fried rice
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 3 to 4 cups cooked rice
- 1 stalk lemongrass peeled and finely sliced
- salt
- 4 cloves garlic peeled and chopped
To serve the chicksilog
- 4 eggs fried sunny side up
- 2 large tomatoes sliced into rings
- 1 small cucumber sliced into rings
- 2 to 3 large basil leaves finely sliced
Instructions
Fried chicken
- Pat the chicken fillets dry with paper towels.
- Place the chicken in a container, add the seasoning, mix and cover.
- Marinate the chicken in the fridge for at least two hours.
- Cover a portion of your work area with cling film and arrange the chicken fillets on top at least two inches apart.
- Cover the chicken fillets with another sheet of cling film and pound them until the thickness is uniform.
- Stir the dried herbs into the flour.
- Dredge each pounded chicken fillet in the herbed flour; shake off the excess.
- In a frying pan, heat enough cooking oil to reach a depth of at least two inches.
- Fry the chicken fillets over medium heat for two to three minutes per side.
- Drain the fried chicken on a rack or a strainer.
- Turn up the heat to high and fry the chicken fillets a second time. This will ensure extra crispness.
- Rest the fried chicken on a rack or strainer.
Garlic lemongrass fried rice
- Heat two tablespoons of oil (the oil in which the chicken was fried is flavored and, therefore, ideal) over medium-low heat.
- Saute the sliced lemongrass and chopped garlic until aromatic and lightly browned.
- Add the rice, sprinkle in salt, and cook, tossing often, until the rice is heated through.
Assemble your chicksilog
- Ladle garlic lemongrass fried rice on a plate.
- Chop the fried chicken into strips (optional) and arrange beside the rice.
- Finish off by placing a fried egg and sliced vegetables on the plate.
- Sprinkle the sliced basil over the vegetables and serve your chicksilog.
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